Judge jails 2 men pending child-rape trials

YOUNGSTOWN — Two suspects facing potential life prison terms if they’re convicted of charges that they raped children are jailed without bond.

At a Tuesday arraignment session, Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court ordered the defendants, Edson D. Halk and Jeremiah Landis, to be placed in the county jail until further notice.

Judge Krichbaum had issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Halk, 42, of Platten Avenue, Cleveland, after he failed to show up for a Feb. 18 arraignment.

Halk, who was arrested last Wednesday, was indicted by the county grand jury Jan. 29 on three counts of rape. He’s accused of raping a girl between the ages of 7 and 10 between Jan. 1, 2006, and Sept. 22, 2008.

Halk’s case, which was investigated by Springfield Township police, is assigned to the judge for further proceedings. It has been set for trial March 16.

Landis, 27, of North Cross Street, Columbiana, was indicted by the county grand jury Thursday on eight counts of raping a child under age 10. Authorities arrested him Saturday.